Printing-press stock-table-control mechanism



Dec. 29, 1925- 1,567,180 I E. CHESHIRE PRINTING PRE ESS STOCK TABLE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed March 12. 1920 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 [17/226 2115'?" M filward 0265/14/ [flaw/e55:

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E. CHESHIRE PRINTING PRESS STOCK TABLE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed March 12 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7.M"lllllllllllllllllllllll mun:

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Dec. 29 1925- 1,567,180

E. CHESHIRE PRINTING PRESS STOCK TABLE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed March 12, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 tion;

, nism therefor;

Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,567,180 PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD CHESHIRE, OI MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB, BY HESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO MIEHLE PRINTING IPRES8& MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

IIILINOISQA CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

' rnmTmG-rmiss srocxmannn-con'rnor. mncnamsm.

. Application filed larch 12, 1920. Serial No. 865,132.

The objects of this invention are to main tain in a novel and improved manner the stock on the stock table at a redetermined height within certain operatmg limits; to provide simple, efficient and improved control mechanism whereby the stock'table may beraised automatically increment by increment in accordance with operating conditions; and to provide simple control mechanism whereby the stock table may be'actuated selectively either manually or automatically.

These and other objects are accomplished by means of the arrangement disclosed on the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a printing press embodying my inven- Figure 2 is an eleyational viewof the stock table and a portion of the actuating mecha- Figure .3'is a'plain view, parts being in section, taken in the plane of line 3-3 of Hi re 2; 4

igure 4 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the stock table actuating mechamsm' Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view taken in the plane of line 5-5 of Figure 2; W Figure 6 is a detail" view of one of the arms which carries the suction shoe and having connected thereto. control mechanism forming a. part of my present-invention;

Figure? is a sectional view taken in the 'PlfillQ'Of line 7-.-7 of Figure and;

Figure 8 is a detail perspective view of-a portion of the suction foot carrying arm, its dip control arm, and the operative connections betweensald parts. v

The va-rious'novel features of my invention will be ap arent from the followingdescription and awin and will be particularly pointed out in te appendedclaims.

This invention has to do particularly with means for maintaining the stock at a certain predetermined height within given limits, whereby the stock ma be successfully picked up from the stock ta 1e and conveyed to the printing mechanism. It is necessary in successful commercial practice to rovide means for automatically progressive y advancing the position of the stock in order thatit may be gripped for the purpose above mentioned.

I have illustrated my invention particularly in connection with the rinting press disclosed in my copending appiication, Serial No. 329,976, filed October 11, 1919. Only such parts as are necessary to an understanding of this invention will be described in this particular application.

Referring to the figures of the drawings, it will be noted that I have shown my invention as applied to a printing press having a main frame 10, in which are slida-bly supported members 11, which in turn support a printing cylinder 12 having a vertical movement, as does also the cooperating chase which is slidably mounted in the frame 10, it being understood that the chase and cylinder simultaneously move in o posite directions. A transfer table 13 is rigi with the cylinder frame and accordingly moves up and down therewith. In this press the sheets of material to receive an impression are fed from stock pile 14 on the "stock table 15 to the transfer table 13, from which they are transferred to the printing cylinder 12, on which same receive the impression, after which the sheets of stock with their impression are withdrawn from the cylinder.

The stock table 15 is provided with a supporting bar 16, having a rack 17 which meshes with a gear 18 mounted 'upon. one section 19 o a shaft having a second section 20, .which is detachably connected to the section 19 by any suitable clutch 21. The bar 16 is movably mounted in a bracket 22, which is pivotally connected to an arm 23 by two.

cured. thereto a collar. 26, the groove 27 of which receives blocks 28 in the arms 29 of a shifting lever 30, which is pivotally connected at 31 to the bracket 22. The collar 26 has transmitted to the stock table 15.

surrounds a portion of shaft section 19, said v,

spring having one end abutting said collar 26 and the other end abutting a shoulder 33 in a sleeve 34 secured to or forming a part of the bracket 22. One end of the shaft section is provided with clutch teeth 35 for engaging corresponding notches 36 in the trunnion portion 37 of an operating lever 38. When it is desired to raise or lower the.

stock table manually, the same may be accomplished by pushing the control lever 30, whereupon the-shaft section 19 Wlll be slid in opposition to the spring 32 in a manner such that its teeth 35 will clutch with the notches 36, whereupon thecrank 38 may be turned in one direction or the other for transmitting up or downmovement to the stock table through gear 18 and rack 17. It

will be noted that the gear 18 is elongated to accommodate the sliding movement of the shaft. It will be understood that when the shaft section 19 is clutched with the crank 38, it will be unclutched from the shaft section 20. It is through the shaft section 20 that the automatic raising movement is This will be considered hereinafter.

p In connection with the transfer mechanism, by means of which stock is transferred from the stock table to the transfer table 13, or toward the printing cylinder 12, l

' have provided two arms 39, only one of the suction shoe to have a variable dip withv which is shown, one being at each side of the press, said arms being mounted upon and fixed to a shaft 40. Formed integrally with one of the arms 39 is asecondary arm 41, to the outer end of which is pivotally connected an arm 42, the lower end of which cooperates with any suitable cam 43, by means of which the arms 39 are rocked back and forth between the stock table 15 and the cylinder 12 for transferring sheet material from the stock pile 14 to the transfer table 13. The top sheet on the stock pile 14 is gripped by any suitable suction shoe 44, the arms of which have pins which are pivotally mount- 'ed in bearing portions 46 at the upper ends of the arms 39. 1

In order that the suction shoe may 'ef fectively grip the top sheet of paper on the stock pile 14 in each case, it is necessary for in certain predetermined limits. For transmitting a dipping movement to the suction shoe, I have mounted on one end ofthe pin or arm 45 a finger 47, to the outer end of which is pivotally connected the main clip am 48, the lower end of which is turned laterally tu form a bracket 49 (seeFigure 7), an intermediate portion of said arm being provided with anel'ongated slot 50 for slidably receiving a pin 51 mounted in and carried by a block 52 which is slidably mounted in a guide 53 carried'by or forming a part of the arm 39. Secured to the outer end of the pin 51 is a block 54, which is slidably mounted in a groove of a member 55, one end of which is pivotally connected at 56 to the the su tion shoe, which is carried by the arms 39, has reached its limit of movement over the stock pile, it is caused to dip down into engagement with the top sheet of stock by a movement transmitted througha bar 1 57, one end of which is pivotally connected to the member and the other end of which is yieldablyconnected through a spring 58 to a'rod 59, the lower end of which is operatively connected with a roller 60 traversing any suitable cam 61. It will be understood that at the time the suction shoe'is given its dipping action, the block 54 will be near'the left-hand end of the member 55 and said latter member given a downward swinging movement.

Assuming that the stock table 15 is raised an eighth of an inch every time an eighth of an inch of stock has been withdrawn-therefrom, it will be understood'that during the interval the suction shoe will have 'a variable dip and likewise the arm 48 will have a variable longitudinal movement. The downward swinging movement of the member 55, however, is constant. Accordingly, some compensating mechanism must be provided between the swinging member 55 and the main dip arm 48. This compensating mech-,

anism includes a spring 62 (see}Figure 7). which is interposed between the bracket 49 and a bracket 63, through the vertical portion of which the pin '51 passes. A pin 64 extends downwardly from the bracket 63 for retaining the coiled spring 62 in place. As shown in Figure 7, the spring 62 is yieldably holding'the arm 48 down, so that the pin 51 occupies the upper portion of theelongated slot 50. Assume now that the top sheet of stock on the stock pile. is at the upper .predetermined height. .[Inder such conditions,

arm 48 will remain stationary while the bracket 63 continues in its downward move ment, the spring 62 compressing and compensating for the difierence in motion between the member 55 andth'e arm 48.

been removed from sai movement of the latter being yieldably transmitted from the member 55 through the spring 62. It will be understood, therefore, that if one-eighth of an inch of'stock is removed from the stock pile before the table is raised one-eighth of an inch, the variation in movement of the arm 48 will be an eighth of an inch.

In connection with this variable throw of the arm 48, I have provided means for automatically raising the stock table a given increment, for example, an eighth of an inch when an eighthof an'.inch of the stock has table.

This automatic mechanism includes the bracket 49, which ,upon each downward movement passes into en agement with a stud 65 (see Figure 6) ad ustably mounted in an;,.e'ar 6 of-a bracket 67 ,pivotally connected at 68 to a flat portioi1=69 of the main carrier arm 39. Pivotallyj-connected'on the bracket 67 at 70 is a finger 71, one end of which is maintained in engagement with. a

projection 72 on the bracket 67 ,by spring 73, the other end of said finger being pivotally connected to the upper end of a link 74, the lower end 'of which is pivotally connected to a laterally extending projection 75 of an adjustable" link 76, the opposite end of said link being pivotally connected at 77 (see Figures and 2) to a bracket 78 loosely mounted upon the pin 25. Pivotally mounted upon this bracket 78 is a spring-pressed pawl 79,

' which cooperates with. a ratchet wheel 80 to the length of the teeth of the ratchet, it

being assumed that the shaft, sections 19 and are, clutched together, as they normally are for automatic actuation of the stock table. The ratchet 80, however, is not moved every time the link 76 is moved, for the reason that the longitudinal throw of the link 76 is not always great enough to cause the pawl 79 to engage thenext tooth on the ratchet wheel 80. The length of the longitudinal throw of the link 76 is dependout directly upon the position of its projection, 75 in an arcuate slot 83 (see Figure 6) in a plate 84 secured to the arm 39. The

position of the projection 75 in the slot 83 is directly dependent upon the extent of downward movement of the bracket 49 of arm 48, which movement is transmitted through link 7 4.

It is apparent, therefore, that the more the stock is fed from the stock table, the greater will be the downward movement of arm 48 and its bracket 49, and accordingly the greater the movement of the stud 65, which is engaged by the bracket 49 and the parts connected thereto, including the projection 75 of link 76. Therefore when, for example, one-eighth of an inch of stock has been removed from the stock table, the parts just described will be actuated to the extent that the projection 75 will occupy the upper part of the slot 83, which is at a greater distance radially from the shaft orcenter than the inner end of the slot, and accordingly the longitudinal throw of the link 76 will be increased to the extent that the pawl 79 will engage the next tooth on the ratchet 80 for transmitting movement through the shaft sections 20 and 19, gear 18 and rack 17 for raising the stock table 15. In this stud 65, bracket 67, finger 71 and manner 'the stock on the stock table-is maintained at a certain predetermined level within given operating limits andin'a manner to meet all the requirements for successful commercial operation.

It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a printing press, the combination of a movably mounted stock table, an impression member, meansincluding a variable dip gripper member for conveying stock from said table to said impression member, and means independent of movement of said impression member for controlling the height of said stock table in accordance with the degree of dipping movement of said gripper member. I

2. In a printing press, the combination of a movably mounted stock table, an impression member, means including a variable dip gripper member for conveying 'stock from said table to said impression member, and means independent of movement of said impression member for controlling the position of the stock table in accordance with the degree of dipping movement of said gripper member.

3. In a printing press, the combination of a movably mounted stock table, an impression member, means for conveying stock from said table to said impression member, and means independent of movement of said impression member and having a variable movement on said conveying means for automatically controlling the position of the stock table.

4. In a printing press, the combination of a movably mounted stock table, a transfer arm whereby stock is carried from said table, and means movablyv mounted on said arm fer arm whereby stock is carried from said table, a gripper member carried by said arm for gripping the stock and having a dipping action, and meansmovably mounted on said arm responsive to the dip of said gripper member. for controlling the position of said stock table.

7. In a printing press, the combination of a movably mounted stock table, a'gripper member for gripping stock on said table, a transfer arm on which said gripper member is mounted, means for giving said grip er a dipping action for grlppih g stock in ifferent positions, and means movably mounted on said arm for controlling the position of said stock table.

8. In a printing press, the combination of a movably mounted stock table,'a gripper.

member for gripping stock on said table, a transfer arm on which said gripper. arm is mounted, pivotally mounted means for giving said grippera dipping action for gripping'stock in different positions, and means movably mounted on said arm for controlling the position of said stock table.

9. In a printing press, thecombination of a movably mounted stock table, a grippermember for gripping stock thereon, a transfer arm whereby stock is conveyed away from said table, said gripper member having a variable dip to grip stock in different positions, means havin a constant throw and being independent of movement of the impression member for giving the gripper member its L dipping action, andmeans to compensate for excess throw which otherwise would increase the dipping action of said gripper member.

10. In a rinting press, the combination of a movab y mounted stock table, agripper member for gripping stock thereon, a transfer arm whereby stock is conveyed away from said table, said gri per member having. a variable dip to grlp stock in different positions, means having a constant throw for giving the gripper member its dipping action, and means mounted on said arm to compensate for excess throw'which 11. In a printing press, a stock transfer arm, a gripper member mounted thereon and having a dipping movement for grip.- ping stock in diflerent positions, means for transmitting a dipping action to said gripper member, and means carried by said arm and movable along said dipping transmis': sion member for absorbing excess dipping actionwhich otherwise would be transmitted to said gripper member.

12. In a printing press, the combination of a stock table, a gripper member having a dipping action for gripping stock in' different positions on said table, a transfer arm carrying said gripper member, a dip control member, a \yieldable connection between said dip control member and said gripper whereby excess dipping action is'absorbed, and meansmovably mounted on said arm responsive to the dipping action of i said gripper member for. controlling the height of said stock table. 9

13; In a printing press, the combination of a'stoclg table, a gripper member having a dipping action for gripping stock different positions on said table, a transfer arm carrying said gripper 'member, a pivotally mounted dip control member, a yieldable conection between said dip control member and said gripper whereby excess dipping.

action is absorbed, .and means pivotally mounted on said arm. responsive to the dip ping action of said gripper member for controlling the height of said stock table. a

14. In 'a printing press, the combination of a movably mounted stock table, a 'transfer arm whereby stockv is carried from said table, means for automatically-raising said table, and means movably mounted on'said arm and having a variable movement for I(:ivntrolling the movement ofsaid. stock ta- 15. In a printing press, the combination of a movably mounted stock table, a trans-, fer arm whereby stock is carried from said table, means for automatically raising said table, means having a variable movement on said arm for controlling the movement of said stock table, and means independent of the automatic means for manually changing the position of said stock table.

Signed .at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 24 day of February, 1920.

, EDWARD. CHESHIRE. 

